But did you hear it from somebody with a face not 6 inches distant from the bared teeth of a large growling dog?

No, the dog wasn’t aggressive. You’d probably bare your teeth too if a perfect stranger picked you out of a crowd, strode up quickly, and proceeded to throw his arms around your neck without the slightest warning. Okay, maybe you would just shove the man away, but that is the privilege of hands. The dog didn’t have that option, and sitting on a short leash, it really couldn’t get away from the man either. No, the dog’s temperament seemed fine to me; it just didn’t know what else to do about the situation.

In fact this was a very patient dog; it had done its very best to tell the man to go away.

The man just wasn’t listening.

A minimally observant person would have noticed from the dog’s posture that it was already nervous, sitting there in a crowded pet store with dozens of people moving about. This was the first hour of an adoption event; we were still trying to get all the animals squared away and establish a routine for the day. Despite walking the animals before and after transporting them, we had already had our first accident in a cage. This fellow was sitting on a leash while someone tended to the mess and others (myself included) shuffled animals left and right into the portable kennels we had set up for the occasion. We tried to keep things calm, of course, but it was simply in the nature of such events. The room had a lot of stress to go around at that particular moment and this dog was definitely feeling it.

The man didn’t have a clue.

A minimally observant person would have noticed the dog’s tail, angled as it was a bit downward, almost tucked under him. He would have noticed the whites of the dog’s eyes, something you don’t see so often from a contented canine. A minimally thoughtful person would have realized these signs added up to a moment one ought to respect the poor animal’s boundaries. Of course, a person with minimal sense would have refrained from hugging an animal less than one minute after seeing it for the first time, let alone a dog that was clearly stressed. But of course there was no need to pay attention to such signs, or to observe normal protocols like a chance to sniff the hand, or at least to observe the man long enough to gauge his intent; our man just had a way with animals.

What could possibly have gone wrong?

At the onset of the hug, a few additional clues ought to have brought this man to his senses. Minimally effective ears would have detected the sound of the dog growling. Hell, I could hear the dog growling from across a row of cages and well past a number of talking people, but the man in question either didn’t notice this sound or chose to ignore it and all the other signs that his affection had proven anything but welcome. Either he didn’t see the dog baring its teeth or he lived in a world where that was a good sign. The man seemed perfectly oblivious to the final warnings he was getting even as he cooed nonsense at the dog, desperate as it was to get away from the assault of an idiot’s love.

That poor dog had been doing it’s best to tell this guy to leave him alone, but none of that message was getting through. There really wasn’t anything left for the poor animal to do but bite him.

Who the Hell could blame the poor creature?

Probably everyone, actually, at least in practice. See, that was the part that really disgusted me as I envisioned the horrible face wound that was surely about to open up in the middle of a Petsmart. It would be ugly. There would surely be stitches, and I wasn’t at all sure the man would come away with both eyes intact. But I also knew that the dog would not survive the long-term fall-out from this event. I could see myself in a room with a kennel tech, helping him to put down this poor creature guilty of nothing less than defending itself. Whatever injuries this guy’s own foolishness would earn him, they would likely mean the death of the dog.

I was in charge of this adoption event; all of this carnage would of course be my responsibility.

So, there I stood, with a dog-attached leash in one hand and cleaning materials in another, several cages directly between me and the unfolding disaster, and a small group of folks engrossed in conversation blocking the aisle. I had no quick way of getting to the dog or the human, and I thought surely the bite was coming at any moment. So, I chose what I hoped would prove the right volume and tone to get the oblivious man’s attention and asked him to please step back from the dog.

Completely oblivious to the dog’s teeth, the fellow turned and told me not to worry, he had a way with animals.

And the dog bared it’s teeth just a little more.

As I listened to the fool talk and struggled to find words that would actually work, one of my volunteers turned around to see what had me so alarmed. Upon catching a glimpse of my expression, she quickly followed my own line of sight to find the dog still baring its teeth mere inches from the smiling man. A moment later she pulled the animal back away in one smooth but firm motion. Her eyes met mine and we both gave a sigh of relief as she showed the dog into its newly cleaned cage. The animal-loving man moved on to pester another dog, one that didn’t seem to mind.

I still cringe when I think about that smiling face inches from the dog’s teeth. To this day, the man doesn’t know how lucky he was. How lucky I was.

You know what really struck me about it was the mysticism. That someone could be so clueless about all the signals the dog was giving off and yet claim some special connection. It wasn’t the first time I had noticed that sort of thing, but this was the most extreme example. That vision of a smiling face right next to bared teeth sent a chill down my spine that stayed with me through the whole event.

There are times when each of us claim that someone is too stupid to live… you met someone actually deserving of the phrase. He’ll likely never see the ceremony, but he is highly likely to make the Darwin awards.

That is one of the most foolish things we’ve heard of! Bloody idiot. Not only did he risk all the things you mention, he’s probably set that poor dog bak months in socialization terms. Cringe, groan, grrrrr.

hehe! i see this all the time….im a dog keeper (notice i dont say dog-owner…i dont see how i can own something which clearly has its own life…)….and lots of people just give me a wide berth in the street…afraid of my dog!
they start moving their kids away, telling them to stay away from that killer dog…!
and what of the dog? he is a gentle creature, has never ever hurt anybody…but thats not to say it wont ever do that…i never trust any dog, no matter how tame…an animal is an animal…with animal, not human instincts…

Exactly. It’s also amusing to see people offer reassurances that there dog is a ‘good’ dog. If they mean it, then they know nothing of dogs. Animals are living creatures with their own priorities and behavior patterns. You can predict them to greater and lesser degrees of accuracy, but never perfectly. And what does and doesn’t trigger a bite has damned little to do with ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

agreed 100%….a dog, or any other pet, i an animal…and therefore totally unpredictable…you may be able to tell if it is going to do something crazy…but its only a guess…only the animal knows…i keep mine on the leash at all times in the park….ive had times when he will charge up to an unknown dog and start growling or trying to dominate it….thats all they want to show…that they are bigger than the other dog! and in cases like that, it can get out of hand very quickly…so he’s always on the leash, unless theers no other dog there, in which case i let him off to run around….its a big undertaking…and one which i wont take on again, i dont think!

Actually, it was the need for a leash that i was thinking about. You have the right idea, I think. I’ve heard too many people say that they don’t need one, because they have a good dog. …and too many bite stories involve animals that were ‘good’ right up until they decided to bite someone. That doesn’t make them bad dogs, but it’s a bad human who discount the possibility.

Yep. This one was remarkable enough, I actually do wonder if there was something wrong with the guy. Stupid earns contempt right up until it passes a margin where you realize something is just missing. I’ve always wondered what side of that line this guy would fall on.

There is a really wonderful book – The Other End of the Leash – by Dr. Patricia McConnell that explains a lot of what you are talking about. How humans, primates, do not know how to relate to dogs, canids.

Well I haven’t heard those exact words, but I’ve heard “he won’t bite me” a number of times from men faced with a growling, bared teeth dog who has positioned himself between me and them. I’m not talking about reading the early warning signals. I’m speaking of looking at a sight that should strike fear into one’s bones and make the hair stand up on the back of one’s neck. Anyway, it’s up to us to be hyper vigilant, to police interactions, and to protect our dogs. I’m glad your group was able to protect this one.